SA tour will get tougher if Australia won't tour: Shakib Al Hasan

With the altercation between the players and board intensifying in Australia, cricket is turning out to be the biggest loser. The Aussies are scheduled to tour Bangladesh at the end of August and it seems highly likely that series might be called off. There were speculations suggesting that this altercation might ruin the entire Australian summer, which is almost four months away and only a miracle could ensure things get sorted out before the end of August.

Accepting a fact that Australia not touring their country would be a huge loss for them, Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan sounded optimistic that the men in yellow will turn up. Bangladesh will tour South Africa after Australia and Shakib said that it would be very difficult to perform well in the lands of Safaris if they don’t get to play Steve Smith & Co.

“If Australia don’t come, then we have to go South Africa directly which will get tougher for us. We need them to come to do well in South Africa. Hopefully Australia will come and I will be fit and it could be a good series for us,” said Shakib.

“Happy to have played so many games”

History beckons for the 30-year-old who’s about to become only the second Bangladeshi cricketer in the history to complete 50 Test matches. Tamim Iqbal too is on the verge of getting to that mark as both these stalwarts of the cricket frenzy nation are currently standing on the 49 mark.

Shakib said that it was a privilege to play more than 30 Tests for his country and he would love to continue. “If I was speaking about it a few years ago, I would have been happy with even 30 Tests. So it’s ok if I think on the basis of that context,” said the No.1 ranked all-rounder.

The Australian tour of Bangladesh will be of paramount importance for the Tigers who last faced the team from down under back in 2005. With South Africa up next, they will try to put up a solid show before landing in the Protea lands and for this to happen, the feud between the players and Cricket Australia has to end.